Crutch.



E HU E A. H001).

GRUTGH.

APPLICATION FILED EEB. 27. 190s.

UNTEIQ) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY A. HOOD, OF SPENCER, llASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALFTO CHARLES N,

PROU'EY, OF SPENCER, MASSACHUSETTS.

GRUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nov.' 17, ieee.

To all ywhom it' may concem:

Bo it known that l, llnnnr A. Hoon, a citizen oit the United States ol America, and a resident oi' Spencer, in the county of lWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain neu and useful Improvements in Grutches, of 'which the following is a specilicati on This invention relates to improvements in crutches, the object being to provide a crutch which may beadjusted to vary or change the distance between the arm-rest and the tip, as well as the distance between the handle or cross-piece and the arm-rest, so that. a crutch made in accord with my invention may be adjusted to suit persons of diiferent statures.

ll`he invention consists in the construction ot' the lower portion ot' the crut-ch whereby it is provided with an adjustable lower end or tip-carrying member, such part having a bolt that engages with an internally threaded section which is rigidly secured to the lower end of the stati or body portion of the crutch, the adjustable end having mounted thereon a locking` and incasing member or .section whereby the parts may be held in rigid engagement, as `will be hereinafter set forth. Y

The' invention also consists in providing` the side-bars ofthe crutch with longitudinal slots and corrugated reintorcino` plates, and with a handle having internally threaded sockets with which engage right and left hand bolts, so that by turning the handle it may bc'released and. then adjusted to and from the arm-rest.

' The invention Jfurther consists in the particular construction and combination of the parts, as will hereinafter be set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which forni part of this specification, Figure lis a side elevation or a crutch made in accord with my invention. tion, the lower portion of the crutch being in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the lower portion el the crutch, showing the combined nut and sleeve out of engagement with the extension that is iXedly attached to the lower end of the body ortion of the crutch.' Fig. 4, is a detail view, which-includes aJ side elevation and a section of the side bars of the crutch, the handle being 1n section. Fig, 5, is a front elevation' of a Fig. 2, is a front elevapart of one of the side bars of the crutch, the handle being attached thereto, and Fig. G, is a-detail view of one of the bolts and its washer.

The statt' or body portion A, of the crutch is of ordinary construction except that the side bars B, B thereof at a suitable distance below the ar1n-rest C, are provided with longitudinal slots D, l). The side-bars adjacent to the slots have attached thereto lon` gitudinally slotted and transversely corrugated or ridged plates E, E, and on the inner sides of the side-bars are plain slotted plates F, F against which the ends of the handle Gr may impinge. The handle G, carries at each end internally threaded sockets H, H to receive right and left handed threaded bolts I and I', each bolt having; rectangular portions that enter 'the slots to hold the same against turning. The heads of the bolts may be corrugated on their inner faces, or they may be provided with washers having therethrough rectangular openings for the passage of the rectangular portions of the bolts. By the construction set forth and shown,- when the handle (l is turned in one direction the bolts will be drawn in to cause the heads or the washers to engage the plates E, and the sockets carried by the handle will [bear against the inner side of the bars B, B, or against the plates F, F, and when the handle is turned in an opposite direction the bolts will be projected so that the handle may be moved to or from the arm-rest to change the distance between the handle and the arm-rest.

BelowV the junction of the side bars B, B of the body portion or stall A, there is a reinforcing band a through which passed a rivet. or pin I), that also passes through an eyel in the upper end of a lag-screw or headless bolt K, which extends slightly below the lower end of the staff or body portion A, to engage an internally screw-threaded section L, and at the upper portion of such section there is a socket for the reception-'of the lower end of the wooden body portion or staff A.' The lower end of the internally threaded section L is reduced to forni a shoulder c against which a combined lock- .nut and incasing sleeve M. will abut to hold anV extension member or extensible Lsection N against movement.V The extensible section of member N, is cylindrical in cross section and carries at its lower end a tip of suitable construction, the bolt '0l being either l'integral or rigidly attached to the section N,

such bolt also being slightly longer than the internally threaded portion of the section L with which such bolt engages, so that the lower section N may be screwed into the section'L' until the same engages with the transverse'wall of the locking and incasing member M. The locking and incasmg member- M, is mounted upon the bolt which passes through an internally threaded aperture in said incasing member, and there is present a recess to receive the shouldered end of the `fixed section L. v,The sleeve below its bolt engaging portion is slightly longer than the larger part of the extensible section N, so that said part may entirely overlie such section when the bolt is screwed home to its .full limit. Then itis desired to extend or shorten the crutch the section M is turned to bring the same out of engagement with the end of theinternally threaded1 section L, and when this is done the section N may be 'turned to make the desired adjustment or the extensible section, the internal diameter of the sleeve being substantially the same as the external diameter of the' lower portion of the extensible section. v

Iclaim l. An extendible crutch rovided adjacent to the lower end of its stad or body portion with 'an internally screw-threaded member,l

a tip-carrying member maintained in adjust- 4able engagement therewith, and a 'combined lockmg and incasing member carried by the tip-carrying member.

2. An extendible crutch having adjacent to its lowerendan adjustable member ,for varying the length of the crutch, a member rigidly attached to the lower end of the staff or body portion ofthe crutch and constructed so that the aforesaid adjustable member engages therewith, and means carried by the adjustable member for holding the members in locked engagement one with the other.

3. An extendible crutch haying at the lowerl end of its sta an internally threaded member, an end member provided with a screw-threaded bolt for engagement with the internally 4threaded member, and a nut mounted on the threaded bolt, such nut having a sleeve that is adapted to receive apart of the bolt carrying membenxsubstantially as shown.

4. An extendible crutch that is provided at the lower end of its 'staff with la rigidly attachedi extension which is-internally screwthreade an adjustable member from which extends a screw-threaded bolt that engagesl with the rigidly attached. extension, and an intermediate member comprising as a unitary part a nutand a sleeve which is mounted upon the bolt and is adapted to hold'the adjustable member in locked' engagement with the rigidly attached member; the sleeve overlying a'l part of the adjustable member, substantially as shown.

5. A crutch provided with slotted sidebars, reinforcing plates having correspondingslots and corrngations adjacent to the side walls thereof, a handle having internally threaded sockets and bolts,.the head of said bolts engaging the corrugated plates.

when the threaded portions engage the sockets, substantially as shown.

6. In a crutch, side-bars having therethrough longitudinal slots, a handle having internally threaded sockets ateach end, .oppositely threaded bolts that engage the sock'- ets, the bolts having rectangular portions that enter the slots and heads of greater width than thevslots, substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature" in the presenceof two witnesses.-

l HARRY A. H001).

Witnesses:

EUGENE W. JOHNSON,

C. E. WEBn- 

